Dr. Greg Broekemier
Department of Marketing and Management Information Systems chair, 308.865.8174
The Department of Marketing and Management Information Systems (MIS) at the University of Nebraska at Kearney has received the UNK Departmental Teaching Award.
“The department’s focus is on excellent undergraduate and graduate education, scholarship and public service by providing student-centered educational opportunities, including experiential learning,” said Dr. Greg Broekemier, UNK marketing and MIS professor and chair.
“Further, our faculty members are constantly seeking innovative teaching practices that help students learn and retain knowledge,” he said. “The department has been a leader in online education, as well as offering many blended courses that combine online and face-to-face teaching.”
In winning the award, the department received $2,000 for use toward travel, equipment or other expenses related to the department’s activities in the education of students.
The Department of Marketing and MIS, which is in the College of Business and Technology, was established in 2002. The department includes seven full-time faculty members, many of whom have received recognition for their teaching, service and scholarship. In the past five years, three faculty members received awards for outstanding teaching, two have received awards for outstanding scholarship, two have received awards for outstanding service and one received an award for career achievement. Department faculty members are also frequently recognized for their mentoring of undergraduate student research.
As a result of the faculty members work in mentoring students, Kay Payne, former director of UNK Center for Rural Development, established the Kay Payne Undergraduate Case Competition in 2006. Payne chose to house the competition in the department because of her first-hand knowledge of the learning experiences students get in their marketing classes by working with area business clients. Since 2002, students have completed experiential learning projects for more than 125 external clients.
“The success of the department’s students in this competition also provides evidence of the commitment of our faculty members to immerse students in applied learning and community outreach,” said Marsha Yeagley, UNK marketing and MIS senior lecturer.
In all, 12 student teams from the department have been selected to receive the Kay Payne Undergraduate Case Competition recognition. Teams are selected by external judges. Since 2006, more than 150 students have participated in the competition.
Speaking on behalf of the management information systems segment of the department, Dr. Vijay Agrawal, an associate professor in the department, said: “MIS, or IS, is the life-blood of business functions. Most of the organizations would not survive without proper use of IS. We ensure that our students get the latest knowledge of the IS discipline in our undergraduate and graduate programs.”
In July of 2007, the College of Business and Technology received a $60,000 grant from the Business and International Education (BIE) Program. The Department of Marketing and MIS used their portion of the grant to create and administer an international business minor, a multi-disciplinary program which prepares students to function in the global business environment.
